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Spotting a fake

Now, more than ever, knowing how to be a responsible consumer of news and information is critical to our democracy.

Misleading or false "news" and information, spreading at record speed and distance in social media posts, is increasingly helping to polarize our nation, stoke fear, and create a less knowledgeable citizenry. It is being disseminated by people of all political convictions — far left, far right, and all of the spaces in between — often without intention.

That is because social media has led to a culture where we can immediately click and share stories that resonate with our personal beliefs. With one finger, we make bold statements about who we are and validate our own opinions.

But, most likely, not everything we agree with is true. And, not everything we disagree with is false.

As U.S. citizens, it is our responsibility to try to discern the difference.

As a nation, we have a lot difficulty doing this. Several months before Election Day, millions of people across America liked, shared and entered into discussions about several political stories that were posted online by ETF News, the leader in online con artists. But, the stories were about things that did not really happen, such as Pope Francis endorsing Donald Trump.

Companies and individuals can bring in significant amounts of money from advertisers by posting fabricated stories that attract a lot of love on social media. But, if you go to their web sites, you won't learn much about them. On ETF News, there are no reporter bylines on stories. There is no mention of a physical address, phone number, email address, or list of company executives. Source links included in stories lead to supermarket tabloids and other sites that also post made-up "news."

There has always been an appetite for sensational grocery store tabloids and the fabrications they sell. But now, people who might never pick a tabloid up at the checkout are unwittingly reading and spreading a toxic amount of fabrications online.

Some of the information we spread, while not fake, is incorrect, incomplete or taken out of context to the point that it could be misleading.

This can happen for many reasons, not all of which are deliberate, or motivated by political or financial gain. An unbalanced talk show might mean that the producers intentionally did not seek a well-rounded panel. But, it might also mean that they could not find one by show time. Journalists have to make deadline-driven decisions, such as whom to interview and what questions to ask, that reflect cultural biases they might not be aware of. Limited space sometimes means a full perspective occurs throughout a body of work, not one piece. Humans make errors, even those for whom getting it right is essential — such as doctors, parents and journalists.

This is not a "liberal" or "conservative" media issue. It is a reason to question, compare a variety of sources, look at fact-checking sites like Politifact.com, and use your head.